Venezuelan Opposition Stages March for Oil Strikers

abcnews.go.com — By Patrick Markey

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - More than 100,000 opponents of President Hugo Chavez marched through the streets of Caracas on Saturday in solidarity with oil workers staging a two-month strike against the beleaguered Venezuelan leader.

In a boisterous rally of national flags, whistles and beating drums, demonstrators joined strikers from the state oil firm PDVSA to show support for the shutdown aimed at forcing early elections in the world's No. 5 petroleum exporter.

The stoppage, which started on Dec. 2, has crumbled as private businesses reopened to stave off bankruptcy. But thousands of PDVSA employees are vowing to stay out until Chavez quits and reinstates rebel oil workers fired during a government crackdown on their protest.

"PDVSA belongs to us, not to the government," strike leader Juan Fernandez shouted from a stage to the crowds jamming a major highway in the capital. "There can be no step back."

Chavez, first elected in 1998, faces a determined alliance of political parties, unions and businesses who accuse him of dictatorial rule and mismanaging the economy. He has resisted opposition calls for elections.

Opponents, who demand that any political solution to the crisis must include the PDVSA strikers, said they had collected a petition of more than two million signatures in support of the oil workers.

Chavez has fired 9,000 oil workers and restructured PDVSA to counter the stoppage, which has battered Venezuela's economy by slashing the crude exports that account for half of government revenues.

AMNESTY REJECTED

Chavez has also firmly rejected any amnesty for the strikers. "Not even if I were mad, not even if I were crazy would I do that," Chavez told foreign diplomats.

The dispute over the oil workers and the economic crisis have complicated negotiations between the government and the opposition. Peace talks backed by a six-nation group and the Organization of American States have faltered over the timing of a possible election.

The strike fueled political tensions between Chavez and his foes, who have led scores of huge street rallies. More than nine weeks into the oil strike Venezuelans still must cope with severe domestic fuel shortages and long lines at gas stations.

Hoping to soften the strike's economic blow, the government introduced tight foreign exchange curbs and price controls to shore up its reserves and the local bolivar currency.

Officials have suspended currency markets for more than two weeks, but the bolivar has plunged more than 24 percent since the start of the year.

Venezuela's political divide over the president's rule has widened since April, when Chavez survived a brief coup by rebel military officers. At least seven people have died in shootings at political rallies and in street clashes and other violence since the strike began in December.

The government says oil output has recovered somewhat to nearly 2 million barrels a day (bpd) and exports are at 700,000 bpd. But strikers estimate that output is still at a third of the 3.1 million bpd the South American nation produced before the strike. Exports are usually around 2.7 million bpd.